Ma'aloubeh (Meat, potato, rice hotpot)

This month when I made my menu, I was tired of the same old, same old recipes. So off I went to the library to check out some new cookbooks. And I chose several recipes that I have never made before from them. This was the first "new" recipe I made and it turned out great, alhamdulilah. It is taken from The Food of Israel by Sherry Ansky. Tomorrow I will make my first attempt at kibbeh. I did modify this recipe a bit so I will give you my version, based on the recipe from the book. And this time I made sure to get some good pictures!

Ingredients:

3 cups (720 g) rice
2 teaspoons of salt
4 lbs chicken or lamb (divided into pieces)
1/2 cup of olive oil
3-5 potatoes (peeled and sliced thick)
3-5 carrots (peeled and halved if necessary)
1 medium onion (cut into thick slices)
a handful of green onions chopped
1 cauliflower (divided into florets)
butter

Herb Mixture (recipe called for saffron, but it is expensive so they had an alternative):
pinch of ground clove
1/2 tsp of black pepper, ground cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, and ground ginger, and turmeric (mainly for the color that it provides without the price of saffron)

Soak the rice in cold water for one hour, rinse, and drain.

In a dutch oven, heat half the oil and brown the chicken pieces (I used boneless skinless chicken breast for this first try, and in the future I am going to use bone-in chicken since the chicken did get a bit dry).



Remove the chicken to a bowl. In the pan with the browned bits and left oil, fry the herb mixture for just a minute or two until the flavors meld. To that add 6 cups of chicken broth. Bring it to a boil (while scraping the bits off the bottom, it adds good flavor), then add back in the browned chicken, along with any juice in the bowl, and lower the temperature to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. When the time is up remove the chicken to the bowl, and reserve the cooking liquid.


(it is a lot of liquid, make sure you have a large bowl or several small bowls :-)

In a separate frying pan heat the other half of the oil to med-high heat.



Fry the vegetables separately, first the potatoes, then the carrots, and last fry the onions (green and white) until they are soft and then add the cauliflower florets and fry the onions with the cauliflower.

Now for assembly! In the dutch oven that the chicken was cooked in, wipe it out with some clean napkins once it has cooled. Then coat the inside with butter, for me it took about a tablespoon to coat it nicely.



First layer the potatoes across the bottom of the pot. Next make a ring around the outside of the pot on top of the potatoes with the carrots.



Inside the ring of carrots place the cauliflower/ onion mixture.



On top of the veggies place the meat. Once that is all in the pot spread the rice evenly over all of it. And then pour all of the reserved broth over everything. Cover the pot.

Place the pot on high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.



To serve place a large (and it needs to be really big) serving platter over the top of the pot and in one quick motion (I had the hubby do this part) invert. Slowly lift the pot and ta-da!



Be very careful as you lift the pot, we didn't have a large round serving platter so we used the largest sheet pan we had. As we lifted the pot we moved it a bit from left to right to keep everything on the sheet. There will be leftovers unless you are serving a very large family. We reheated the next day by adding just a bit of chicken broth to keep things moist, but be careful not to add to much of it will turn the rice mixture to mush.

Bariis

I swear we don't eat cake for dinner. My latest baking fascination might've given you the impression that that's all we've been eating :D. I haven't been able to try anything new except with cakes/cookies. I managed to experiment with bariis (rice) and leave my white rice comfort zone. I used the spices that I like (and not necessarily the spices normally used for bariis) and kept trying until I liked it! I've always felt that the normal Somali bariis has too many spices for my liking and usually kick starts one of my tension headaches. So I tried to balance it out by using ingredients that I don't normally use, with my usual favourite.

Here's what I came up with :

Here's what you'll need:

3 cups of basmati rice
1 large tomato, or 2 smaller ones
1 onion, chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
handful of parsley
2 bouillon cubes (chicken stock cube)
5-6 cups of water
1 tablespoon of xawaaji (a Somali spice)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to about 350 degrees. Sautee your diced tomato and onions until golden brown, in 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.
2. When onions are golden brown, add your minced garlic, parsley, and your xawaaji. Mix well... keep heat on medium low to avoid burning your ingredients. Add your 2 cinnamon sticks after this step.
3. Add your bouillon cubes and allow them to melt, stir well.
4. Bring to a boil, and add your 3 cups of basmati rice.
5. Leave heat on medium-high and stir the rice well. Leave on stove for about 5 minutes, then transfer to your preheated oven. It should be ready in about 25 minutes depending on your oven, or until rice tastes ready.

Enjoy :)

Spanish Rice

A few days ago my husband surprised me with my very first cookbook. I was extremely eager to try it out, and even though I was taking a 'break' from trying new recipes that day, I couldn't help but notice the convenient prep time of 15 minutes for Spanish Rice. I've been craving Spanish rice lately even though I've never had it before! So I removed page 87/88 from the Beans, Rice & Grains chapter and into the kitchen I went.

The recipe is as follows:

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Makes: 6-8 side-dish servings

1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)

1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup of water

3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice

1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers, undrained (I skipped this part)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

I tossed in some frozen veggies I had in my freezer. (carrots, green beans, and corn)

1. In a large skilled cook onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Add chilli powder; cook 1 minute more. Stir in undrained tomatoes, water, rice, undrained chile peppers, salt, black pper, and, if desired, several dashes of hot pepper sauce. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. If desired, sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Enjoy!

My Grandmother's Legacy

I grew up getting used to eating animal organs, such as intestines, lungs, and liver. But that's about it. Tongue, brain, hooves, and others, that's where I draw the line, or is it because I was never served those growing up?

It's pretty common to see animal organs cooked in many ways in both Malaysian and Indonesian dishes, but I would say that I see more of animal's internal organs in Indonesian cuisine, most probably because of Indonesia's rich cultural diversity. My father says,

"You can find more good food in Indonesia than Malaysia."

By that he meant more variety. And of course! Because Indonesia is comprised of so many islands, thus many tribes, ethnic variations, cultures and food compared to Malaysia. My father was also born and raised Indonesian, which would explain the indignant loyalty. In some ways, I feel a sense of loyalty to Indonesia too, because I was raised mostly eating Indonesian food, as my grandmother was the main cook for quite a number of years during my childhood.



I have to say I love the texture and chewiness of cow's intestines. Cubed, they are actually the main ingredient of this dish my grandmother would make for occasions like Eid when we held our open house events. I don't think people balked at the prospect of eating cow intestines, for Indonesian food is also now pretty common in Malaysia. For the record, I personally don't like to draw a definite distinct line between Indonesians and Malaysians, because I believe that we're not that different, but when discussing food, cultural differences, (in my humble opinion) have to be discerned, for it adds to the appreciation and knowledge of the discussion.

Soto is a dish mainly comprised of clear thin soup with meat and vegetables, eaten with vermicelli and compressed rice cakes. In Malaysia, Soto Ayam is well known, and is what I remember purchasing for some of my iftars at the evening bazaar in Malaysia while I was in college. There are many kinds of Soto, but Soto Ayam is the only Malaysian Soto I ate in Malaysia. Years back, an Indonesian sister made Soto Betawi, which I still crave now (not knowing how to make it myself). That was my second Indonesian Soto, but I have come to realize that Indonesia is really rich and abundant with many varieties of Soto, most of which sound and look delicious!

I have to admit, I don't know how to prepare animal organs for cooking, and I can just imagine my children's disgusted expressions if I do, seeing that they already feel weak in their knees watching me handle raw chicken. So, in my years of living far away from family, here in the United States, I have substituted cubed beef for the cubed intestines, and the Somali Global Mall's Halal Store, which sells beef cut sukhaar-style makes it even more convenient for me, as I don't have to spend time cubing chunky slabs of meat.


Fill your bowl with some vermicelli and a few rice cakes, and ladle the steaming soup, making sure to get a generous amount of cubed potatoes, carrots and meat. Garnish with fried shallots, and a small but potent dash of hot and spicy kicap sambal (mainly comprising of sliced bird's eye chilli swimming in sweet thick soy sauce and made tangy with lemon juice), and you're good to go.

This remains one of my favorite comfort food.

The measurements below are merely estimates, but the ratio of the meat, potatoes, and carrots to each other should be about the same.

Soto Madura

Beef cut sukhaar (as much as the potatoes and carrots) - boiled in 8 cups of water till fairly tender to your taste (keep the stock)
4 potatoes, peeled and finely cubed and soaked in water
4 carrots, peeled and finely cubed and soaked in water
2 onions cut into chunks
7 cloves of garlic
1 -2 lemongrass stalk, bruised
2 -3 dried asam gelugor
2 bay leaves
3 tsp ground turmeric
2-3 Tbs ground coriander
oil
squirts of lemon juice
5-6 bird's eye chillies
sweet thick soy sauce (llook for Indonesian brands)
vermicelli
Nasi Himpit (compressed rice cakes) - a good explanation and recipe on Pahang Delights.


1. Blend 1 onion and 3-4 garlic cloves with turmeric, coriander, and lemongrass
2. Pound or blend the remaining onion and garlic separately
3. Heat oil in tall stock pot, and saute the blended onion and garlic in Step 2 till fragrant
4. Add the blended mixture in Step 1, and continue sauteing to draw out the flavor of the spices and bulbs
5. Dump in the potatoes and carrots and and saute them along for about 5 - 7 minutes
6. Add in the beef, and water and bring to boil
7. Add in the bay leaves, a few squirts of lemon juice, and salt to taste
8. Prepare the vermicelli by submerging them in hot water until they're soft, then drain them and set aside

To prepare the spicy Kicap Sambal:
9. Put in a blender the bird's eye chillies and enough sweet soy sauce so they would blend smoothly. Blend till chillies are thoroughly broken up, and add a few squirts of lemon juice


How do you eat it? (Like you would chicken noodle soup!)

1. Using a spaghetti server/tong, scoop one serving of vermicelli in an empty individual soup bowl. Add in a few cubed rice cakes.
2. Ladle the Soto, replete with potatoes, beef, and carrots over it, such that the white thin rice noodles are swimming in the pool of yellowish soup.
3. If you wish, top it with a teaspoon (or less, depending on your hot and spicy tolerance level) of spicy Kicap Sambal. (It is like the Somali Bizz Baazz).
4. Eat it with fork and soup spoon, or if you're feeling dexterous, chopsticks.

Rice Pudding

There are about a million different ways to make rice pudding. Each culture adds their own flavor and style. This is a very basic Middle Eastern style recipe and what I grew up with. It is easy to make and can be adapted to one's own taste.

You will need:
2 cups short* grain rice rinsed well
6 cups of water
8 cups of milk
1/2 - 1 cup of sugar depending on taste
1 teaspoon Rose water (optional)

Garnishs or additional add-ins:
Orange Blossom Water*
Chopped Pistachios or other nuts
Cinnamon and/or Coconut
Sprinkles (for the kids!)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan combine the rice and water and cook until done. Drain water.
2. While the rice is cooking put the milk in a large pot and bring to a boil, taking care not to burn it.
3. Once the rice is cooked and the milk is boiling, add the rice to the milk and continue stirring for about 15-20 minutes or until the pudding has thickened to desired consistency.
4. Stir in sugar and rose water.
5. Put the pudding into individual serving bowls or one large container. Allow to cool for some time and then transfer to the refridgerator to chill*.
6. Garnish and enjoy!

*Notes
- Long grain may be used as well but I prefer short.
- May be eaten warm or cold.
- Do not use both rose and orange blossom water together. Choose one or the other.

Malaysianised Somali Bariis?

I had the wonderful opportunity of watching a Somali make Bariis in her own unique style, which I think will be imprinted in my mind forever. Here in Columbus, OH, Darbo is popular among the Malaysian brothers. Most of them, being single hungry students who most of the time are too lazy/busy/tired to cook, would head out to Darbo and have their lunch and dinner.

I have eaten rice cooked the Yemeni style, Turkish style, Saudi style, Indopak style, Egyptian style, and of course the Somali style. Each style of cooking seems to produce this wonderful fluffed up plump yet long separated rice grains, glistening and individually coated with the mixture of spices. I also realized that the way Basmati rice is cooked by Malaysians for some special rice dishes that I think are originally adapted from international rice dishes is quite different.

I have never managed to master cooking Basmati rice, despite witnessing how these sisters of various ethnicities cook it, that is until, I saw how the Somali Bariis was made. May Allah reward Ruqiya for showing me how to make Somali Bariis, her way (because apparently, other Somalis make their Bariis differently).

After trying to cook Basmati rice in so many different ways before, I truly believe that what makes a big difference in how the rice turns out, is not soaking it first. The Somali Bariis that was demonstrated to me didn't involve any presoaking, and involved intense frying, until all the oil was absorbed by the rice grains, after which hot stock was poured in, producing a whoosh of hot steam that can be dangerous. But I discovered that this makes for really plump and separated rice grains.

I love cooking Basmati rice, and have discovered that it's easier to cook Basmati rice (any style) for a large number of people, and have resorted to doing this whenever we have more than 10 people over. My resulting dilemma then, is, adapting my Malaysian meat or poultry dishes and even vegetables, to marry well with the Basmati rice. In my humble opinion, and I believe maybe most Malaysians would think this too, typical everyday Malaysian meat/poultry/seafood dishes and accompanying vegetables do not pair very well with Basmati rice cooked in oil. They do however, blend in very well with plain white rice cooked with plain water. They are in fact flavored and cooked to be eaten with white rice! So whenever I do cook Basmati rice in oil, I have had to make meat/poultry dishes that are suitable, and it has not been that easy, at least not for me.

Here is my version of (I say mine because I have probably fiddled with it so much that it would not do Ruqi's Bariis much justice) the Somali Bariis:

Juli's version of Ruqi's Somali Bariis

5 cups of Basmati rice
1 medium onion, minced
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 Tbs ground coriander
1/4 Tbs ground cumin
1/4 Tbs turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder/paprika
dash of salt
1 cinnamon stick roughly crushed
2-3 cardamom pods
2-3 cloves
7 1/2 cups hot beef/chicken stock
1/4 - 1/3 cup oil

1. Heat oil and toss in the minced onions until fragrant, then add the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves)
2. Add rice and stir frequently, coating each grain with oil
3. Add the ground spices
4. Continue stirring until the oil is absorbed by the rice grains

5. Pour in the hot stock, but be prepared to move away very quickly from the pot because it will truly hiss and smoke!
6. Wait until it comes to a boil (since the stock is hot, this will happen pretty quickly)
7. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pot
8. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit
9. When the rice looks almost done (not submerged in water but if you poke all the way to the bottom of the pot, there will still be water), transfer it to the oven until it's done (it's done when all the water has been absorbed and the rice looks fluffy)


Cook's notes:

• I use a big Mexican caldero to cook this in. A bigger wider pot is more effective than a taller pot (like a stock pot) because it helps distribute the water evenly among the rice grains


• Make sure the pot is also oven safe to make for easier transfer from stove top to the oven


• You can also finish cooking the rice on the stove top, but I believe that finishing the rice off in the oven makes it fluffier


• Did you know that uncooked rice in Malay is called 'beras' (pronounced buh-russ)? So I understand Bariss. :) Cooked rice is called 'Nasi' in Malay by the way. I can foresee future Malaysian 'Nasi' recipes coming up inshaallah, though maybe not in the near future.
  

I'm sure my version of Somali Bariss may not be up to par with the true Somali Bariss, but at least, when I no longer have my Somali sistahs around to cook the Bariss for me, I can still whip up my own version and keep that taste of Somali (as how I remember it) with me. And I'm sure the Malaysian brothers who adore Darbo appreciates my version, which is free too.

Bariis & Sukhaar

We eat different variations of bariis (rice) and sukhaar (small pieces of beef or chicken) about once a week in my home and what I love most about it is that you can cook it differently each time- no meal will taste the same. Here's one I made last week:

The rice

What you'll need:

- 4 cups of rice
- 1 tomato chopped
- 2 maggi chicken cubes
- handful of chopped parsley
- minced garlic
- 1/2 of an onion chopped
-

Steps

1. sautee the onions over a medium-high heat until they are golden brown.
2. add your chopped tomato, minced garlic, and parsley
3. add your maggi cubes and mix
4. add 4 cups of rice and mix
5. add 3 cups of water
6. put rice on low-medium heat and leave it for 20 minutes
7. pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
8. after twenty minutes, put the rice in the oven to finish cooking
9. take rice out of the oven after 10 minutes and leave to cool

Chicken Sukhaar

What you'll need

- yogurt
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 of an onion, chopped
- minced garlic
- chopped parsley
- xawaaji (a Somali spice)
- curry
- paprika
- chilli powder
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder

Steps

1. marinate 1/4 pound of chicken sukhaar (chicken breast cut into small pieces)
2. mix sukhaar with 4 tablespoons of yogurt, and all of the above mentioned spices
3. mix it well and refrigerate for at least 3 hours
3. 3 hours later, grease a frying pan on medium-high with butter
4. add your marinated chicken to fry
5. 10 minutes later, add your chopped onions, parsely, and minced garlic
6. put on medium-low for 10-15 minutes
7. done

Serve your rice and sukhaar :)

Enjoy!

Too Hot? Too Cold? Just Nice!

People call it baby food. I remember eating my baby brothers' rice porridge cooked with grated carrots and anchovies, and enjoying it. I also remember making rice porridge for my daughters when they were starting to eat solids. I made it for my youngest son when he was starting to eat solids, except without the salt, spices and garnishes.

I have to say I love baby food, adulterized that is (which means we salt and spice it). My idea of a tempting breathtaking rice porridge is chicken rice porridge, with a smattering of shredded fried or cooked chicken hidden throughout the depths of theporridge, a tantalizingly glistening shrimp sitting atop the surface and a scattering of garnishes, but I have come to love this ground beef version too.

So, I present, my...

Malaysian Ground Beef Rice Porridge
Serves 6, with maybe second and third helpings...

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, minced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 whole star anise seed
3-4 whole cloves
1-2 whole cardamoms
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tbs ground coriander
1/2 Tbs ground cumin
3 cups of long grain rice (not basmati rice)
10 cups water
1/4 cup oil
salt
dashes of black pepper
spring onions - sliced for garnish
fried onions - optional
green chillies - sliced for garnish

1. Heat oil and saute the onion, garlic, anise seeds, cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon stick till fragrant
2. Add ground beef and stir for a few minutes. Add coriander and cumin.
3. Add uncooked rice and keep stirring till rice grains are coated with oil and glistening
4. Add water and bring to boil, then bring to simmer
5. Stir occasionally so rice won't stick at the bottom
6. Simmer it till rice absorbs the water and is overdone
7. If it looks dry add more water. It should look like porridge, and the rice grains should look exploded
8. Salt and pepper it to taste
9. Garnish with with sliced green chillies, spring onions, fried onions, and maybe add a fried egg sunny side up if you wish. Be adventurous.

Enjoy it especially on a frigid winter day!


Cook's Notes:

1. Stir it occasionally while it's simmering
2. You can take out the whole spices before serving it, in case someone bites on the cardamom or cloves and gets the fright of his/her life
3. It should be more on the watery side, so add more water if it looks like the rice had absorbed all the water
4. Use a big pot, even though it's only 3 cups of uncooked rice, because unlike normally cooked rice where the rice doubles in size, the rice for porridge has to absorb more water until the rice grains explode and they can't absorb anymore. 3 cups of rice will swell into a lot of porridge! Try it with 1 cup of rice for a start. For my family (family of 6) 3 cups is just nice.